Maybe I'll Understand One Day
by SweetKylie
Summary: Kory has always been unique, making life for her very difficult. Xavier, her only friend, is a high school drop out. Kory begins to have feelings for him until she meets Richard Grayson.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this is my first FanFiction so please don't be brutal. If you have any requests or suggestions about my writing please feel free to tell me. This chapter is more of an introduction to the story; it doesn't have that much drama going on yet.**

"Are you okay?" A question I truly hated because I was never _okay_. My life's always been miserable. Starting from the day 1, when I was born, to my current 18 year old self.

"I am fine." I mumbled as my eyes rested on the geometry equations that lay in front of me. I kept tapping my pencil against the wooden coffee table, hoping somehow my anger would dissolve with each tap.

Xavier put a hand on top of mine making me drop the pencil.

"I'm sorry Kory, but I just don't belong in school." I tried to hide my anger, sadness, and how I felt so betrayed.

School was never joyful for me, Kory Anders. I was so _unique_ that friends rarely ever came into my life, let alone leave. From orange tanned skin to an odd accent; I stick out in Jump City High. If the weather was below freezing, I'd most likely go out in a miniskirt and a cropped tank top. Of course most kids, such as Kitten, took this as an opportunity to make fun of me until tears came streaming down my face.

Xavier starred at the clock that hung on the wall and slowly rose from the small, untidy couch.

"Kory, I'll see you later," Xavier said as he gave me a kiss on the cheek. I tried my best to give a small smile, but it wasn't that easy. I had just lost my only friend in JCH (**J**ump **C**ity **H**igh).

"Bye." I said unsteadily as he left, leaving me to my thoughts.

Last Thursday was a normal day, or at least I thought, until Xavier didn't come to school. I wasn't so alarmed since it was only **one** day. But his one day absence turned into a **week**. Today was the day I found out I was no longer going to have someone to sit with at lunch, a lab partner, or a friend in school.

My best friend became a high school dropout making life for me in Jump City High a living hell. I was an open target for Kitten and her friends. They could pick on me all they wanted and I'd have no one by my side telling me, "It's going to be okay."

What bothered me the most was Xavier didn't tell me what was going on. I always thought friends could count on each other…guess I was wrong.

I took the hair-tie from my wrist and wrapped it around my cherry red hair, another one of my _unique_ characteristics. My hair was naturally cherry red along with my emerald eyes, but everyone refused to accept the facts. I was the only one in the grade that had natural red hair with green eyes.

I looked to the clock which pointed to 12:30 a.m. I decided to just finish my homework while my elderly teacher was taking role. I slowly made my way to the short hallway which led to my room along with my sisters, Koma.

I starred at her room for a moment. This was the only true time were I wished she would give me sisterly advice.

Koma wasn't exactly the best sibling anyone can ask for, but she at least knew how to bring food to the table. I also had a job, cleaning up after people and doing errands in Wayne Enterprises whose new owner is now a teenager. If it wasn't bad enough doing errands for people who didn't appreciate it; I was now working for a teenager only one year older than me.

After mom and dad's death, Koma was never the same. She wasn't that decent girl that wouldn't yell all the time. Instead she turned into a bitter, selfish, and an envious girl. I guess I changed too, I used to be more naïve and cheerful. But all of that's in the past.

Suddenly, Koma's door slammed open making me jump in fright. "What are you doing still up?" Koma said as she yawned, her eyes slightly narrowing.

"I am sorry, I was nearly thinking." I said softly.

"Kory, get your head out of this dream world and go to sleep." Koma snapped as she slammed the door shut. This comment wasn't as cruel as her usual comments were.

I sighed as I walked to my bedroom. My eyes rested on the circular pink bed; I gave a small yawn and crawled under the large pink, wool blanket. Pink was my mom's favorite color; my room was full of pink.

Everything except for my Mumbo, the Magnificent alarm clock. I remembered the first time I had seen Mumbo at the circus, last year. That was the day when he failed to do his _magnificent _finale; instead he ended up nearly killing the demonstration girl in his frustration. He was instantly sent to jail by the Teen Titans.

The Teen Titans were the heroes of Jump City. There's Cyborg, a half man, half robot. Raven, a half demean, half mortal. Beast boy, the green skinned, changeling. And finally, Robin, the team leader. Many girls are in love with him in my school, but I on the other hand am not in the fan club.

I do like him, but loving is too much. He's a superhero, what makes these girls think that he's going to have enough time to _love_.

I finally fell asleep at 2:00.

The annoying beeping sound of the alarm clock filled the room. If that wasn't bad enough, I could hear my sister repeatedly screaming my name.

I felt around the table, my eyes still shut, until I finally hit the 'snooze' button. I didn't move from my position under the blanket until my sister came to my door and I could hear her tapping her foot impatiently.

"Kory, get up." My sister said annoyed. I didn't respond, but instead pulled the cover off of me.

"Sister, I am feeling unwell." I said, trying to make my voice sound as weak as I could.

"No! I can't clean up after your messes today! I dropped out of college just to bring home food for you. I don't want to come home and see the house on fire." Koma said not buying my excuse.

Obviously, she was still mad about the fact that she couldn't finish getting her education.

"Anyways, you promised mom before she died that you would always go to school. You don't have a good excuse."

"But…" I tried to make up another excuse.

Koma narrowed her eyes.

"Okay, I shall go." I finally said as I got up and walked to my closet.

I picked out a purple tank top along with a white mini skirt. I looked to the mirror and sighed. Everyday Kitten made fun of my outfit no matter how hard I tried to change my image.

I walked to the front door before Koma brought me back inside.

"Kory, it's raining outside! Go wear something else." She snapped as she went back to the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes as I changed my outfit into a pair of jeans with a sweater. In my opinion, it was too hot for clothing this heavy.

I finally passed Koma's approval and began walking to my large school, Jump City.

**I sort of ended early because I thought I would just make this chapter the introduction. Next chapter will be based on her life in high school.**


	2. Chapter 2

Laughter echoed throughout the large hallways of Jump City High School. School had always been a freighting experience for her, but having to endure the rest of the year with no one by her side would prove to become one of her most difficult challenges. It had pained her to know that she would no longer have a friend to help ease those obstacles and ensure her that everything would be okay. The past night she was unable to stop considering dropping out as well, but she knew that wasn't an option. She couldn't go against her mother's wishes before she had died.

She tried to shake those thoughts and fears out of her head, fearing that if that first tear dropped she wouldn't be able to stop the rest of the tears from flooding. She had always tried to maintain a smile on her face in hopes of making a new friend, at least one, or to stop her peers from targeting her. Sadly, she wasn't that fortunate. A group of students had always encouraged her peers to continue picking on her. She couldn't understand how her peers could be this cruel...how could they allow a defenseless girl like herself continue to be picked on by a couple students and feel no guilt for seeing her break out in to tears almost everyday.

Kitten had become similar to a dictator in the school because most feared her father. It was rumored that her father had been thrown into jail for bloodshed and had been recently released. No one knew the details of who's blood he had shed and if the person was still alive. Everyone was scared to question her authority which caused the high school to think it was alright for them to join in on picking on Kory. Any who even denied her of one of her desires was instantly threatened given a warning Kitten had even slowly achieved the impossible, gaining each and every teacher's trust in the school. In their eyes, she was completely innocent. She didn't act the same way she did around students with them. To teachers in JCH, students could not be trusted and they considered us all delinquents. It pained her to see how no matter how much she strived to even be accepted by teachers, a complete devil like Kitten was instantly taken a like to.

As if by cue, high heels could be heard in the background approaching her direction. Students slowly cleared a pathway for her as if she was royalty. She wondered if Kitten was only feared and if that was the cause of her special treatment or if it was because the students had truly taken a liking to her. Either way, she did not want to become Kitten's source of amusement today. She quickly made her way to her locker, fiddling with the lock until it finally opened. She buried her face in her locker, making sure to make it appear as if she was trying to find a book rather than hide from the devil who was approaching her direction. The clicking noise from Kitten's high heels slowly began to fade away until it was no longer auditable.

She let out a small, relieved sigh to see that she had dodged one problem. She grabbed the books she required for her first couple periods and closed the locker door after. Muffled snickering was auditable in the background. She turned to face the group of students, wondering what they were laughing at. She was quickly greeted with an arm slapping away her stack of textbooks that she was carrying and scattering amongst the ground. Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing at the sight of the devil herself standing in front of her. A slight smirk quickly spread across her lips as her icy, blue eyes locked themselves on her target.

"Hmm, you didn't really think I wouldn't stop by to say, 'good morning' did you?"

Her cold voice only caused Kory to become more enraged. She was in no mood to take this anymore. Her fingers slowly curled to form a fist. A small sigh escaped her lips as she uncurled her fingers. What could she do? Before she had gained strength from Xavier, but now she was alone...she was only filled with fear. She shook off the thoughts of anger and quickly got down to the ground to gather her belongings. She was hoping if she had ignored her long enough she would get bored and find another target.

Seeing Kory not have any replies only caused Kitten to become more enraged, but she refused to show that she was becoming irritated. She narrowed her eyes slightly, but quickly replaced it back with her amused smirk. Her eyes scanned the ground until they locked on an emerald necklace that she noticed on the ground. She slowly placed the bottom of her high-heel, shoes on the emerald.

Kory's eyes slowly made their way to what Kitten was standing on, her eyes widening in fear. She was unable to hold back the fear she was feeling at that moment.

"No please do no-"

She was cut off by the emerald breaking into shards and scattering across the hallway ground. She tried to hold back a couple tears that threatened to spill out. The cold girl in front of her removed her foot off the now shattered emerald and snickered at the sight in front of her, casually flipping her blonde hair with her hand. It was exactly what she had wanted.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break that."

The snickering around her only increased. She wasn't sorry one bit. Tears only became more threatening to spill out. She wouldn't let Kitten get that satisfaction, but she couldn't even gain the strength to even stand up and face her. She felt that once that emerald had broken her heart had to.

Kitten was about to say something, but was quickly cut off by the school bell echoing throughout the halls. She merely let out a small, cold laugh before making her way to her class. The hallways slowly began to empty out until she was the only one left. A couple tears slowly made their way down her cheeks. She gathered up the shards and gently placing them in her pocket. She picked up the remaining of her belongings and stood up, wiping any tears that had stained her cheeks.

_"...I can not go through with this...At least not today..."_

She thought to herself. She quickly swung her backpack over her shoulder before walking swiftly out of the large twin, entrance doors of the high school. She didn't know where she was going, but she couldn't even get enough courage to be in the same room with Kitten. She was slowly starting to fear her once again.

She slowly placed her hand inside her jean pocket, feeling one of the emerald shards against her fingers.

"...I am sorry, Mother."

She whispered to herself. Her only memento from her mother was shattered in less than a couple seconds. It was the only connection she had to her mom. Her parents had both died when she was only 3 years old and she couldn't remember anything about them. She didn't really remember anything about her past. She only knew that that necklace was her mother's and that she would cherish it always...but now even her only small hope of not being alone was broken...

--

_Tears streamed down the young girl's face as small muffled gasps continued to escape her mouth. She hugged her knees as she rested her head against the cold gates, closing her eyes tight, that surrounded the high school. Her bangs became matted and stuck to her forehead from the rain that poured down from the dark sky and splashed against her face, washing away the tears._

_"W-Why can I not be normal...?" _

_She thought to herself as she hugged her knees a little tighter in hopes of some form of comfort. It hurt her so much to know that she would never fit in. Her mother and father were no longer here anymore. They were supposedly murdered and the police had never learned who had caused the crime. She couldn't accept the fact that she was now really alone in the world. Her sister paid little attention to her and she had become bitter towards her after their death. Koma had always had a slight jealousy of her younger sister and often replaced that feeling with anger, but after their parents death she had become even more cruel towards Kory. Her sister had to drop out of college in order to get a fulltime job so she could have enough money for rent and enough to feed Kory. _

_Kory had taken off a couple months of high school and tried to recover during that time, but this had only caused false rumors to start spreading around school for the reason she hadn't been in school. That was when Kitten had started to pick on Kory even more than usual and encouraged the rest of the school to do so also. She was always alone in school and she did get picked on occasionally for her appearance, but it only became more ruthless once she had returned to school. _

_"...Why....Why..."_

_She continued to question herself in her head as more tears streamed down her cheeks. There was no one left in school and no one at home either since her sister was still working. She was truly alone. Streaks of lightning flashed across the sky, the only real source of light in the gloomy sky. Her fingers slowly curled into fists as she tried to stop crying, but it was difficult. _

_"You know your going to catch a cold like that."_

_A warm voice spoke out through the darkness. She tried to ignore the person as some more tears threatened to spill out. She knew it must have been another person wanting to come and hurt her like everyone else. She slowly opened her eyes upon feeling no more rain hit her face. She blinked a couple times as she tried focus her eyesight on the person in front of her. She noticed a tall boy, a couple inches taller than herself, with black hair and red tips smiling softly at her as he held an umbrella over her._

_"Aren't you an odd one? Sitting out her in the rain like this, your truly begging for a cold."_

_He said in a joking manner. She couldn't help, but stare wide-eyed at him. His red eyes locked themselves on her and his smile wasn't fading away even though she was just starring at him. He slowly extended out his hand towards her while he kept the warm smile on his face. For some reason she couldn't think straight. She hadn't seen someone smile so genuinely at her in a long time. Before she knew what she was doing, she slowly extended her hand out to his. She pulled back a couple times, hesitant to take his hand, but place her hand in his at the end when she looked back up to him to see him still having that warm smile._

_"My name is Xavier Red."_

--

She took a couple more steps before stopping and biting down on her lip, hard. Her grip on her backpack tightened slightly. She wanted him here. She didn't want to go on living without seeing his smiling face everyday in school and lately she had barley been seeing him anymore. He had become always busy and refused to give her much detail about why.

She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts by hearing several police car sirens in the distance. A couple police cars quickly rushed by on the street in front of her in peruse of catching the criminal.

She narrowed her eyes at these so called 'protectors from crime.' Why could they not have stopped that murder of her parents? They couldn't have even tracked the person down...it infuriated her deeply that anyone put their trust in them. Now they were barley any use since the Teen Titans had shown up. They had become lazy and relied more on them to do their jobs. She frowned as she resumed walking again.

A sound of a trash can falling over in the distance quickly caught Kory's attention. This was followed by some more noise of trash cans being shoved out of the way. She chose not to pay so much attention as she continued to walk, thinking it was just a trash man or a hungry cat digging through the trashcans for some food.

"Damn it!"

She quickly turned to the source of noise as a trashcan rolled out of an alley onto the sidewalk in front of Kory.

_"What is that?"_

She thought to herself as curiosity slowly took over her. She slowly walked towards the alley wondering if someone was injured. She stopped in front of the alley as her eyes scanned the area until they locked on a dark figure stumbling around in the corner.

"Boy Wonder can't make a decent suite?"

The person mumbled to himself in anger. The voice was cold and almost mechanical like. The figure kept clicking at a button on his belt and only became more infuriated when nothing happened. He swiftly slammed his glove-covered fist against the dumpster next to him, causing a slight dent, in frustration. Her eyes widened slightly as he turned his face slightly to the side, revealing a skull mask with a red x crossing it.

She slowly began to back away, trying to not make any noise to attract his attention. It was rumored that there was a guy going around in a skull mask stealing from the Teen Titans and many others. He was ruthless and some had become injured who stood in his way. She was paralyzed with fear at realization of who he was and that he could easily kill her right there.

_"R-Run!"_

She scolded herself, but her body refused to barley took a couple steps back; she wanted to make a run for it, but she was struck with growing fear. She almost tripped over from walking backwards that it had caused her to let out a small gasp as she tried to regain her balance.

He quickly turned around when he noticed that she was there. His eyes quickly narrowed as a red blade in the shape of an 'x' quickly extended out of his glove. He was about to lunge towards her. She quickly closed her eyes tight as she let out a small scream.

"Get out of her-"

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes widened behind his mask at the girl in front of him.

**I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I'll try to update more often=D**


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